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Poll reveals three quarters of people believe the Church of England should allow women bishops

Picture credit: Article photo CC from Dilaf on Flickr

Author: Ben Whitnall, 9 July 2012 (Last updated: 24 October 2014)

A poll for Bible Society by Com Res shows that the huge majority of British people (74%) think that the Church of England should allow women bishops with a slightly greater proportion of women (76 per cent) than men (72 per cent) agreeing.

There is a trend by age, with the younger generations more likely than the older generations to think that the Church of England should allow women to become bishops: 78 per cent of those aged 18 to 24 think this compared to 69 per cent of those aged 65 and over.

However, opinion is divided as to whether there are more important things for the church to discuss at this current time. 43 per cent think the church should be debating the issue; whilst 42 per cent think there are more important issues it should be discussing.

The majority also say that the debate makes them think there are people in the Church of England who are sexist against women with 57 per cent of people agreeing that there are many people in the Church of England who are sexist against women, compared to 21 per cent who disagree.

The results also highlight that the debate is making most people (73 per cent) think that the church is out of touch with modern society’s view that women can do any job that a man can do.

Opinion is divided as to whether those who oppose the ordination of women bishops are just following a more traditional interpretation of the Bible rather than being sexist.

ComRes interviewed 2,117 GB adults online between 4th July to 5th July 2012. Data were weighted to be demographically representative of all GB adults.

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